Sebastian
Securityat the house was back down to one person at the gate when Declan and Seb arrived. They nodded as they passed through, and for a second, it felt like any other time Seb had returned.
Then they got to the end of the long driveway, and he saw the damage.
His stomach lurched as he stepped out of the truck and onto the frozen pavement. Tarps covered the burnt-out walls of the laboratory, like a covered wound on Seb’s wing of the house. As he had hoped, the fire safety system was advanced enough that the fire didn’t make it far beyond the lab, but the black singes on the wall outside still made him nauseous.
Declan rested his hand on Seb’s back, and Seb softened into the comfort of his touch. “You ready for this?” he asked.
Seb nodded quickly. “Let’s see how bad it is.”
They both left their jackets on inside. The air was cold without an insulated barrier, like the late winter chill had taken up residency between the walls. Seb rubbed his hands together as he peeked down hallway, relieved to see not much more than smoke damage, licking up at the ceiling.
“Your art looks safe,” Declan said, nodding at the framed pieces hanging on the wall.
Seb scratched the back of his head. “Thanks. They were picked out by an interior designer…” Suddenly, he realized how little there was in that house that he actually cared about, now that the laboratory was gone. Although he had spent years there, Seb had never truly made the place his home, not in the way most people would have.
Just about everything that did matter, in fact, he had managed to take with him to that hotel.
Seb took Declan’s hand with a squeeze. He peeked into the laboratory, heavily damaged by his sabotage, then turned away. There was no reason to linger on the gory details, he figured. What truly mattered from the research was preserved in backups, and the destruction was primarily for show, a way to sell the story to his father. Instead, he pulled Declan to his room.
The windows faced opposite the setting sun, casting the bedroom in shadows. Ellie ran in at their feet, circling until she found an old tennis ball she had been playing with before they left. Seb tried to flick the lights, but the electricity had been cut.
He sat on the edge of his bed, and Declan stood before him, the full frame of his presence comforting to Seb.
“We should get this stuff in storage,” Declan said, glancing around. “If your father is going to cut you off—”
“Storage is good,” Seb jumped in. “But I’m not worried about money.”
Declan arched an eyebrow. “That right?”
“I put some patents in my name,” Seb said, “and made smart investments when I was young. Plus, my grandparents made sure the inheritance they left me was safe from my father.” He thought back to when his grandmother was still around, one of the few threads that had made him feel like a part of the family. “I won’t be able to build myself a high-tech lab, but I’ll be fine.”
Declan grunted. He laid his hands on Seb’s shoulders, then started to massage lightly, tightening his strong hands and probing into Seb’s tense muscles.
Seb groaned and rolled his neck backward, wishing it were warm enough to take off his jacket and appreciate the massage properly. “I’ll arrange for storage tomorrow,” he muttered to Declan. “In the meanwhile, this house is still in my father’s name. We have to figure out where we’re going to live.”
He snapped his mouth shut as soon as he said it. Thatwehad been unintentional.
But it just popped out so easily…
Seb leaned his head forward, pressing his cheek against Declan’s chest as the massage continued to loosen his body. When Declan opened his mouth to speak, Seb felt the rumble beneath his ribs, warm and reassuring.
“There’s nothing waiting for me back in Vegas,” he said, matter-of-factly.
Another tremble of warmth went through Seb’s body, igniting his heart. “Does that mean we can stay together?” he asked, hope blooming.
Declan leaned his face down and placed his lips near Seb’s mouth. The scratch made Seb squirm closer. “You sure you want a guy like me to stick around?” he asked. “I’m no good at fancy dinner parties, and I swear more than I should.”
Seb laughed softly as he kissed Declan and stroked his fingers down his side. Maybe it was the house, destroyed around them and with smoke still tangy in the air, but Seb felt himself tearing up.
Of course he had never made that place into anything more than where he worked and slept. It was just another meaningless purchase from his father, another trap meant to exploit him. But Declan offered something different. He offered a life that Seb could choose for himself, that he could earn.
Seb pulled himself up, then pressed their kiss harder. He melted between Declan’s hands and licked at Declan’s teeth, tasting how real he was.
Kissing, groping, squeezing, Seb came home to Declan, and when the wind danced through the house, he realized he was in love.
“Don’t ever leave,” Seb said, kissing at Declan’s lips. “Tell me you’ll stay?”
